Times reporter Karen Crouse, in a lengthy article June 2, 2010, said the Wittels streak has been “a ray of sunshine” for FIU after the fatal stabbing of football player Kendall Berry on campus March 25. That had “cast a pall” over the athletic program, she wrote.

Crouse wrote that “Because of Wittels, the country is seeing FIU baseball in a positive light. No matter when his streak ends, it is, for the University, the start of something good.”

There have been only two brief mentions of the rape charges and both were AP pickups — the first on Dec.28 and the second on Feb. 19 after the streak ended.

The paper covered extensively the dismissal of Brigham Young basketball star Brandon Davies in late February after he was accused of breaking the BYU honor code by indulging in premarital sex. “Honor Code Separates BYU from Other Teams,” said the headline on a story March 2 by NYT reporter John Branch.

NYT Reporter Lynn Zinser also wrote extensively on the same topic March 3.

NYT coverage of rape charges against three Duke athletes in 2006 totaled hundreds of thousands of words.

Atlantis, NYT Advertiser, Gets an “F”

The Atlantis Resort & Casino, where the alleged rapes took place, is a major advertiser in the NYT, spending millions each year. It frequently runs full-color ads in the front news section at a cost of about $130,000 each.

Duke did little, if any, advertising with the NYT.

The legal drinking age in the Bahamas is 18 and the two alleged victims of the rapes were 17, according to “sources” quoted by the Miami Herald.

The Better Business Bureau gives the Atlantis an “F,” its lowest rating. It says the Resort failed to respond to eight of the ten complaints against it. BBB said it “does not have sufficient information to determine the size of the business” nor can it obtain “sufficient background information on this business.”

Some schools ignore such backgrounds, feeling that “ignorance is bliss when it comes to knowing a player’s arrest record,” said the article.
Jeffrey Knox, a freshman back for Pittsburgh, was removed from the team after being arrested on charges of punching a female student and two female witnesses on Sept. 22, 2010.

Knox, who has denied the charges, was to be arraigned March 3 on charges of simple assault, disorderly conduct and reckless endangerment. He was the fourth Pitt player arrested on charges of violent crimes between mid-July and late September, 2010.